2013 Honda CR-Z Gets More Power, Updates for Europe; Changes Coming Here Soon

As the hybrid and plug-in hybrid wars have begun to heat up during the past year, it’s easy to forget Honda’s sporty and impractical CR-Z hybrid even exists. When the two-seat CR-Z was introduced to our market for 2011, we found it to be reasonably engaging to drive, albeit slow and a car that tried to satisfy both enthusiasts and hypermilers without total success. Apparently, consumers have had an equally lukewarm reaction to the little two-seater, snapping up roughly just 11,000 of them in 2011, and only 3461 more through September of this year. The CR-Z needs a shot in the arm, and Honda has given it one, at least for Europe, in the form of a light refresh and a power bump.

From Pokey to Plucky
Honda quietly debuted the updated-for-2013 CR-Z at the Paris auto show, and the company’s changes address a key complaint about the current car: its lack of power. Before this refresh, the CR-Z’s 1.5-liter four-cylinder and electric-motor combo was good for just 122 hp. For 2013, Honda has given both the gas engine and the electric motor a boost. The 1.5-liter four’s output increases from 113 hp to 119, and the electric motor is 7-hp beefier. As a result, combined power rises from 122 hp to 135, and peak torque swells from 123 lb-ft to 140. 

Okay, so 135 horses still isn’t going to unseat your average minivan in a stoplight drag race, but we’ll take any power increase we can get. Honda attributes the additional power to a reprogrammed engine computer, a revised variable valve-timing setup, and an updated crankshaft. The company also swapped the car’s nickel-metal hydride battery pack for a more modern lithium-ion unit; the move is responsible for the electric motor’s power bump. More accelerative fun comes by way of a new, F1 KERS–style Plus Sport boost setup, which gives the driver additional electric-motor assist with the push of a steering-wheel button. The feature is only operable if the battery has more than a 50 percent charge, and the boost lasts up to 10 seconds.

Honda claims the increased power exacts no fuel-economy penalty, and that the CR-Z’s 0-to-62-mph time drops by 0.7 second to 9.0. (A CR-Z we tested in 2010 made the trip to 60 mph in 9.6 seconds, so Honda’s performance estimate for the updated model seems just about right.) The current CR-Z fitted with a manual transmission is EPA-rated for a somewhat unremarkable 31 mpg in the city and 37 on the highway, figures that we expect will carry over to the 2013 version. (When fitted with the CVT, the CR-Z is good for 35/39.)

Long Live the Look!
One thing we dig about the CR-Z is the way it looks, and thankfully Honda made only minor changes in this regard. The coupe’s wedge-like shape and sporty stance carry over into 2013, but the Euro-spec front bumper has been restyled with larger intakes and fog light housings, as well as a tweaked grille that ditches the current car’s slats for a honeycomb mesh. The updated grille mercifully eliminates the CR-Z’s buck-toothed countenance by “floating” the front license-plate mount within the grille rather than hanging it from the opening’s top edge. Out back, Honda subtly massaged the rear bumper’s lower diffuser element with a few fresh edges and angles and some new reflector elements. 

The CR-Z may never materialize into a sales success for Honda, but these updates have the chance to inject more of the sport suggested by the car’s styling into the driving experience. When the CR-Z first went on sale, we noted that it was a car brimming with compromises by trying to be both sporty and efficient. The CR-Z was neither efficient nor particularly sporty—Honda’s own Insight and Civic hybrid are priced somewhat similarly to the Z and get better mileage and offer up a back seat—though it does drive massively better than a Prius.

Honda has announced that sales of the 2013 CR-Z in Europe will begin in January; company representatives tell us that many of the Euro model’s changes are coming here this year, but couldn’t specify which tweaks are headed our way. We hope that at the very least the power boost and nifty Plus Sport boost button make it to our shores.

Source;
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2013-honda-cr-z-euro-spec-hybrid-photos-and-info-news